Features
WHY ARE DOCTORS LOSING THEIR RESPECT?
SOUTH ASIA
By Dr Shershah Syed
(Illustration by Samiah Bilal)
Doctors and patients have a life-long relationship. People need doctors when they become sick. Doctors treat them till they get better or they die, depending on the severity of the illness, complications of their ailment, or in the case of failure of treatment and intervention. In the majority of cases, patients and their families are always thankful to doctors and their medical teams.
The medical profession enjoys this unique relationship where you get paid for services and at the same time are treated like a god or goddess. After treatment, patients often like to have a long-term relationship with doctors and expect that their doctor would join them on their happy or tragic occasions. Hence, doctors and family physicians, in particular, enjoy a special and respectable status in the community. I know many doctors whose names are very popular in the community and many of their patients have named their children after these doctors.
Despite the need and necessity of doctors in the community, there have been some situations where the general public has been not too pleased with those in the medical profession, particularly doctors. These are situations when we come across news of doctors being verbally abused, becoming victims of violence, and their clinics being attacked and doctors even being tortured and killed by patients or patients’ families.
Unfortunately, during the current Covid-19 crisis, this type of situation seems to be getting worse. Patients and the public seem to have lost their traditional confidence and trust in doctors. Rumours are rife that doctors are killing patients, wrongly diagnosing Covid-19 and even selling human organs to make money.
However, this kind of a situation doesn’t happen overnight. Doctors have lost their respect and status in the community because of their own actions and deeds. They have chosen to and worked hard to destroy the respect of their profession, and their esteem, in the hearts and mind of people.
With a rise in the number of reported incidences of medical practitioners being abused and physically attacked by patients and their families, it is time for, doctors to look inward.
It happened gradually and steadily when doctors became more interested in wealth, power and fame. To achieve these goals, they compromised their professional duties, and, perhaps, did not act with sympathy and empathy when it was required of them to do so.
Some doctors became involved in taking commissions, a practice in which a doctor expects a commission after referring a patient to a surgeon or physician. There are surgeons and physicians who charge hefty fees from patients in a country where almost 50 percent of the people are living below the poverty line. Doctors also demand commission from medical stores, pathology laboratories and diagnostic centres, particularly those with CT scan and MRI facilities. That doctors stoop that low to make money is neither acceptable nor permissible.
The moral and ethical integrity of physicians has deteriorated in the last few decades. In medical colleges, professor, who work as part-time faculty, hardly have time to teach and train medical students as they are extremely busy in their private practice. Among their patients and paramedics in hospitals, they are known as butchers — for extorting high medical fees for consultations and surgeries.
We are producing technician-dependent surgeons and physicians who are guided by pharmaceutical-industry representatives who are partners in medical crime. There are enough examples of physicians who prescribe multiple types of antibiotics with different kind of vitamins and painkillers to patients. It would be very embarrassing for the profession to reproduce these prescriptions here. These prescriptions of multiple drug therapy have no scientific basis, nor pharmacological justification, and doctors, who make such prescription are nothing but glorified quacks with postgraduate diplomas and appointments as faculty members at public or private medical colleges. They are only prescribing unnecessary medicines for the benefit of some unethical pharmaceutical corporate agendas.
In a system where people think that the more medicine a doctor prescribes, the better he is, the ignorance and illiteracy of the public remains a blessing for this kind of clinical practice. In fact, this is worse than quackery, as quacks at least are not expensive and they spend time to talk to patients kindly and answer every query patiently, whereas these doctors have no time for patients’ questions.
In many hospitals, renowned surgeons cannot operate as they have no skills and neither do they know how to deal with complications in surgical procedures. Behind the flashy glass walls of the operation theatre, they have experienced operation-theatre technicians in their team to perform surgeries on their behalf. At some stage, when patients learn about this, they lose their confidence and trust for these surgeons and hospitals, and it is definitely a violation of trust.
Many doctors own hospitals built on amenity plots given by the government on extremely cheap rates. The majority of these hospitals are ruthless business centres, charging enormous amounts of fees and providing substandard services. Often, patients and their relatives are lied to and no internal audit system exists, simply so that unethical medical practices can be easily and smoothly carried out.
In the past few decades, many private hospital owners have established medical colleges without fulfilling the basic criteria of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) and, hence, these medical colleges are producing doctors who are good for nothing. These doctors are glorified MBBS quacks, with minimal knowledge and skills. They have no ethical considerations and hence believe it is their right to make money because they have themselves paid enormous tuition fees to study at these medical colleges.
A large number of doctors do not hesitate to travel and stay in five-star hotels at the expense of pharmaceutical companies. Many pharmaceutical companies bribe doctors, on a personal basis to boost the sales of their medicine. Unfortunately, people are unable to differentiate between good, ethical doctors and bad, unethical and criminal, medical practitioners.
Many MBBS doctors have joined the civil services, politics and the electronic media as TV anchors. It’s very unfortunate that ‘qualified’ MBBS doctors are serving as members of the bureaucracy in ministries of industry, agriculture, excise, taxation, police, etc. They use the title of doctor with their name. The majority of them conduct themselves in the same manner as the average, traditional, unhelpful government official.
No doctor who has gone into politics has created a good impression by being caring of humanity. They behave in the same fashion as other politicians in the country, who serve their political masters and work against the interests of the masses. They get involved in corruption as do their non-medical counterparts. The education and training in medical colleges has failed to make them good doctors or good people, and neither has the hospital environment inculcated empathy in them. When they studied in medical colleges and worked in government hospitals, they must have had first-hand experience of the common man’s misery and the degradation of poor people. But when they decide to become politicians, they acquire attributes of lying, misconduct, nepotism, incompetence as well as a bad reputation, despite the title of doctor prefixed to their names.
As television anchors, these doctors fail to produce shows with substance. Instead they often promote ignorance, intolerance, religious fanaticism and non-scientific thinking. In media, they have the opportunity to help unfortunate patients needing a voice for their cause, but they fail to highlight the plight of dying pregnant women, the misery of poor diabetic patients who have no place in our healthcare system, or of the masses with chronic diseases who are exploited by qualified doctors and quacks. These doctor-anchors also become a part of the corrupt system of exploitation.
Recently, a doctor became a victim of the callousness of her fellow doctors. A female physician in Hyderabad died in her third pregnancy because of the failure of her obstetrician and an unhelpful healthcare system. Another competent general surgeon in Lahore died because of the callous attitude of surgeons.
Meanwhile, hundreds of doctors and health workers, on duty to save the lives of Covid-19 patients, are dying by getting infected in hospitals, but their services are not recognised.
The medical profession should review the practice of medicine and the unethical conduct of doctors. Every doctor should question his or her practice and try to understand why people have begun to hate doctors and why they have lost respect for health providers.
When PMDC and institutes, such as the College of Physicians and Surgeons, are least bothered about these issues, like-minded doctors must show that they will not be a part of this silent conspiracy.
(The writer is the former Secretary General of the Pakistan Medical Association)
by Dr Gotabhya Ranasinghe
Senior Consultant Cardiologist
National Hospital Sri Lanka
When we sought a meeting with Hon Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Minister of Health, he graciously cleared his busy schedule to accommodate us. Renowned for his attentive listening and deep understanding, Minister Pathirana is dedicated to advancing the health sector. His openness and transparency exemplify the qualities of an exemplary politician and minister.
Dr. Palitha Mahipala, the current Health Secretary, demonstrates both commendable enthusiasm and unwavering support. This combination of attributes makes him a highly compatible colleague for the esteemed Minister of Health.
Our discussion centered on a project that has been in the works for the past 30 years, one that no other minister had managed to advance.
Minister Pathirana, however, recognized the project’s significance and its potential to revolutionize care for heart patients.
The project involves the construction of a state-of-the-art facility at the premises of the National Hospital Colombo. The project’s location within the premises of the National Hospital underscores its importance and relevance to the healthcare infrastructure of the nation.
This facility will include a cardiology building and a tertiary care center, equipped with the latest technology to handle and treat all types of heart-related conditions and surgeries.
Securing funding was a major milestone for this initiative. Minister Pathirana successfully obtained approval for a $40 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank. With the funding in place, the foundation stone is scheduled to be laid in September this year, and construction will begin in January 2025.
This project guarantees a consistent and uninterrupted supply of stents and related medications for heart patients. As a result, patients will have timely access to essential medical supplies during their treatment and recovery. By securing these critical resources, the project aims to enhance patient outcomes, minimize treatment delays, and maintain the highest standards of cardiac care.
Upon its fruition, this monumental building will serve as a beacon of hope and healing, symbolizing the unwavering dedication to improving patient outcomes and fostering a healthier society.We anticipate a future marked by significant progress and positive outcomes in Sri Lanka’s cardiovascular treatment landscape within the foreseeable timeframe.
by Fr. Emmanuel Fernando, OMI
Jesuit Fr. Aloysius Pieris (affectionately called Fr. Aloy) celebrated his 90th birthday on April 9, 2024 and I, as the editor of our Oblate Journal, THE MISSIONARY OBLATE had gone to press by that time. Immediately I decided to publish an article, appreciating the untiring selfless services he continues to offer for inter-Faith dialogue, the renewal of the Catholic Church, his concern for the poor and the suffering Sri Lankan masses and to me, the present writer.
It was in 1988, when I was appointed Director of the Oblate Scholastics at Ampitiya by the then Oblate Provincial Fr. Anselm Silva, that I came to know Fr. Aloy more closely. Knowing well his expertise in matters spiritual, theological, Indological and pastoral, and with the collaborative spirit of my companion-formators, our Oblate Scholastics were sent to Tulana, the Research and Encounter Centre, Kelaniya, of which he is the Founder-Director, for ‘exposure-programmes’ on matters spiritual, biblical, theological and pastoral. Some of these dimensions according to my view and that of my companion-formators, were not available at the National Seminary, Ampitiya.
Ever since that time, our Oblate formators/ accompaniers at the Oblate Scholasticate, Ampitiya , have continued to send our Oblate Scholastics to Tulana Centre for deepening their insights and convictions regarding matters needed to serve the people in today’s context. Fr. Aloy also had tried very enthusiastically with the Oblate team headed by Frs. Oswald Firth and Clement Waidyasekara to begin a Theologate, directed by the Religious Congregations in Sri Lanka, for the contextual formation/ accompaniment of their members. It should very well be a desired goal of the Leaders / Provincials of the Religious Congregations.
Besides being a formator/accompanier at the Oblate Scholasticate, I was entrusted also with the task of editing and publishing our Oblate journal, ‘The Missionary Oblate’. To maintain the quality of the journal I continue to depend on Fr. Aloy for his thought-provoking and stimulating articles on Biblical Spirituality, Biblical Theology and Ecclesiology. I am very grateful to him for his generous assistance. Of late, his writings on renewal of the Church, initiated by Pope St. John XX111 and continued by Pope Francis through the Synodal path, published in our Oblate journal, enable our readers to focus their attention also on the needed renewal in the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. Fr. Aloy appreciated very much the Synodal path adopted by the Jesuit Pope Francis for the renewal of the Church, rooted very much on prayerful discernment. In my Religious and presbyteral life, Fr.Aloy continues to be my spiritual animator / guide and ongoing formator / acccompanier.
Fr. Aloysius Pieris, BA Hons (Lond), LPh (SHC, India), STL (PFT, Naples), PhD (SLU/VC), ThD (Tilburg), D.Ltt (KU), has been one of the eminent Asian theologians well recognized internationally and one who has lectured and held visiting chairs in many universities both in the West and in the East. Many members of Religious Congregations from Asian countries have benefited from his lectures and guidance in the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Manila, Philippines. He had been a Theologian consulted by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences for many years. During his professorship at the Gregorian University in Rome, he was called to be a member of a special group of advisers on other religions consulted by Pope Paul VI.
Fr. Aloy is the author of more than 30 books and well over 500 Research Papers. Some of his books and articles have been translated and published in several countries. Among those books, one can find the following: 1) The Genesis of an Asian Theology of Liberation (An Autobiographical Excursus on the Art of Theologising in Asia, 2) An Asian Theology of Liberation, 3) Providential Timeliness of Vatican 11 (a long-overdue halt to a scandalous millennium, 4) Give Vatican 11 a chance, 5) Leadership in the Church, 6) Relishing our faith in working for justice (Themes for study and discussion), 7) A Message meant mainly, not exclusively for Jesuits (Background information necessary for helping Francis renew the Church), 8) Lent in Lanka (Reflections and Resolutions, 9) Love meets wisdom (A Christian Experience of Buddhism, 10) Fire and Water 11) God’s Reign for God’s poor, 12) Our Unhiddden Agenda (How we Jesuits work, pray and form our men). He is also the Editor of two journals, Vagdevi, Journal of Religious Reflection and Dialogue, New Series.
Fr. Aloy has a BA in Pali and Sanskrit from the University of London and a Ph.D in Buddhist Philosophy from the University of Sri Lankan, Vidyodaya Campus. On Nov. 23, 2019, he was awarded the prestigious honorary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt) by the Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, the Most Venerable Welamitiyawe Dharmakirthi Sri Kusala Dhamma Thera.
Fr. Aloy continues to be a promoter of Gospel values and virtues. Justice as a constitutive dimension of love and social concern for the downtrodden masses are very much noted in his life and work. He had very much appreciated the commitment of the late Fr. Joseph (Joe) Fernando, the National Director of the Social and Economic Centre (SEDEC) for the poor.
In Sri Lanka, a few religious Congregations – the Good Shepherd Sisters, the Christian Brothers, the Marist Brothers and the Oblates – have invited him to animate their members especially during their Provincial Congresses, Chapters and International Conferences. The mainline Christian Churches also have sought his advice and followed his seminars. I, for one, regret very much, that the Sri Lankan authorities of the Catholic Church –today’s Hierarchy—- have not sought Fr.
Aloy’s expertise for the renewal of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and thus have not benefited from the immense store of wisdom and insight that he can offer to our local Church while the Sri Lankan bishops who governed the Catholic church in the immediate aftermath of the Second Vatican Council (Edmund Fernando OMI, Anthony de Saram, Leo Nanayakkara OSB, Frank Marcus Fernando, Paul Perera,) visited him and consulted him on many matters. Among the Tamil Bishops, Bishop Rayappu Joseph was keeping close contact with him and Bishop J. Deogupillai hosted him and his team visiting him after the horrible Black July massacre of Tamils.
Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
By Gomi Senadhira
senadhiragomi@gmail.com
“You might tell fairy tales, but the progress of a country cannot be achieved through such narratives. A country cannot be developed by making false promises. The country moved backward because of the electoral promises made by political parties throughout time. We have witnessed that the ultimate result of this is the country becoming bankrupt. Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet.” – President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 2024 Budget speech
Any Sri Lankan would agree with the above words of President Wickremesinghe on the false promises our politicians and officials make and the fairy tales they narrate which bankrupted this country. So, to understand this, let’s look at one such fairy tale with lots of false promises; Ranil Wickremesinghe’s greatest achievement in the area of international trade and investment promotion during the Yahapalana period, Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA).
It is appropriate and timely to do it now as Finance Minister Wickremesinghe has just presented to parliament a bill on the National Policy on Economic Transformation which includes the establishment of an Office for International Trade and the Sri Lanka Institute of Economics and International Trade.
Was SLSFTA a “Cleverly negotiated Free Trade Agreement” as stated by the (former) Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate on the SLSFTA in July 2018, or a colossal blunder covered up with lies, false promises, and fairy tales? After SLSFTA was signed there were a number of fairy tales published on this agreement by the Ministry of Development Strategies and International, Institute of Policy Studies, and others.
However, for this article, I would like to limit my comments to the speech by Minister Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate, and the two most important areas in the agreement which were covered up with lies, fairy tales, and false promises, namely: revenue loss for Sri Lanka and Investment from Singapore. On the other important area, “Waste products dumping” I do not want to comment here as I have written extensively on the issue.
1. The revenue loss
During the Parliamentary Debate in July 2018, Minister Samarawickrama stated “…. let me reiterate that this FTA with Singapore has been very cleverly negotiated by us…. The liberalisation programme under this FTA has been carefully designed to have the least impact on domestic industry and revenue collection. We have included all revenue sensitive items in the negative list of items which will not be subject to removal of tariff. Therefore, 97.8% revenue from Customs duty is protected. Our tariff liberalisation will take place over a period of 12-15 years! In fact, the revenue earned through tariffs on goods imported from Singapore last year was Rs. 35 billion.
The revenue loss for over the next 15 years due to the FTA is only Rs. 733 million– which when annualised, on average, is just Rs. 51 million. That is just 0.14% per year! So anyone who claims the Singapore FTA causes revenue loss to the Government cannot do basic arithmetic! Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I call on my fellow members of this House – don’t mislead the public with baseless criticism that is not grounded in facts. Don’t look at petty politics and use these issues for your own political survival.”
I was surprised to read the minister’s speech because an article published in January 2018 in “The Straits Times“, based on information released by the Singaporean Negotiators stated, “…. With the FTA, tariff savings for Singapore exports are estimated to hit $10 million annually“.
As the annual tariff savings (that is the revenue loss for Sri Lanka) calculated by the Singaporean Negotiators, Singaporean $ 10 million (Sri Lankan rupees 1,200 million in 2018) was way above the rupees’ 733 million revenue loss for 15 years estimated by the Sri Lankan negotiators, it was clear to any observer that one of the parties to the agreement had not done the basic arithmetic!
Six years later, according to a report published by “The Morning” newspaper, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) on 7th May 2024, Mr Samarawickrama’s chief trade negotiator K.J. Weerasinghehad had admitted “…. that forecasted revenue loss for the Government of Sri Lanka through the Singapore FTA is Rs. 450 million in 2023 and Rs. 1.3 billion in 2024.”
If these numbers are correct, as tariff liberalisation under the SLSFTA has just started, we will pass Rs 2 billion very soon. Then, the question is how Sri Lanka’s trade negotiators made such a colossal blunder. Didn’t they do their basic arithmetic? If they didn’t know how to do basic arithmetic they should have at least done their basic readings. For example, the headline of the article published in The Straits Times in January 2018 was “Singapore, Sri Lanka sign FTA, annual savings of $10m expected”.
Anyway, as Sri Lanka’s chief negotiator reiterated at the COPF meeting that “…. since 99% of the tariffs in Singapore have zero rates of duty, Sri Lanka has agreed on 80% tariff liberalisation over a period of 15 years while expecting Singapore investments to address the imbalance in trade,” let’s turn towards investment.
Investment from Singapore
In July 2018, speaking during the Parliamentary Debate on the FTA this is what Minister Malik Samarawickrama stated on investment from Singapore, “Already, thanks to this FTA, in just the past two-and-a-half months since the agreement came into effect we have received a proposal from Singapore for investment amounting to $ 14.8 billion in an oil refinery for export of petroleum products. In addition, we have proposals for a steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million), sugar refinery ($ 200 million). This adds up to more than $ 16.05 billion in the pipeline on these projects alone.
And all of these projects will create thousands of more jobs for our people. In principle approval has already been granted by the BOI and the investors are awaiting the release of land the environmental approvals to commence the project.
I request the Opposition and those with vested interests to change their narrow-minded thinking and join us to develop our country. We must always look at what is best for the whole community, not just the few who may oppose. We owe it to our people to courageously take decisions that will change their lives for the better.”
According to the media report I quoted earlier, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chief Negotiator Weerasinghe has admitted that Sri Lanka was not happy with overall Singapore investments that have come in the past few years in return for the trade liberalisation under the Singapore-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement. He has added that between 2021 and 2023 the total investment from Singapore had been around $162 million!
What happened to those projects worth $16 billion negotiated, thanks to the SLSFTA, in just the two-and-a-half months after the agreement came into effect and approved by the BOI? I do not know about the steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million) and sugar refinery ($ 200 million).
However, story of the multibillion-dollar investment in the Petroleum Refinery unfolded in a manner that would qualify it as the best fairy tale with false promises presented by our politicians and the officials, prior to 2019 elections.
Though many Sri Lankans got to know, through the media which repeatedly highlighted a plethora of issues surrounding the project and the questionable credentials of the Singaporean investor, the construction work on the Mirrijiwela Oil Refinery along with the cement factory began on the24th of March 2019 with a bang and Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministers along with the foreign and local dignitaries laid the foundation stones.
That was few months before the 2019 Presidential elections. Inaugurating the construction work Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the projects will create thousands of job opportunities in the area and surrounding districts.
The oil refinery, which was to be built over 200 acres of land, with the capacity to refine 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day, was to generate US$7 billion of exports and create 1,500 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. The construction of the refinery was to be completed in 44 months. Four years later, in August 2023 the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to cancel the agreement with the investors of the refinery as the project has not been implemented! Can they explain to the country how much money was wasted to produce that fairy tale?
It is obvious that the President, ministers, and officials had made huge blunders and had deliberately misled the public and the parliament on the revenue loss and potential investment from SLSFTA with fairy tales and false promises.
As the president himself said, a country cannot be developed by making false promises or with fairy tales and these false promises and fairy tales had bankrupted the country. “Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet”.
(The writer, a specialist and an activist on trade and development issues . )
US sports envoys to Lanka to champion youth development
Rahuman questions sudden cancellation of leave of CEB employees
